Basement, 2 floors housing Abhishek Banerjee's office ordered to evacuate
What's the story
The West Bengal fire department has ordered the evacuation of two floors and a basement of a high-rise building in central Kolkata. The building houses the office of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee. The evacuation order was issued due to a lack of fire safety measures, an official said on Friday. The Fire Department issued the notice directing the evacuation of the basement, 6th, and 7th floors of the building at 9 Camac Street.
Certificate lapse
Fire safety certificate expired on August 10
The fire department's action comes after Banerjee's Camac Street office was vandalized.
The TMC has accused men linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of the attack, which the BJP has denied.
The fire department said the building's fire safety certificate expired on August 10 and hasn't been renewed yet.
A joint team of police and fire officials inspected the premises floor-by-floor on Monday, finding no fire safety measures in the basement and inadequate firefighting measures on the seventh floor.
Twitter Post
Fire Department notice
Kolkata: The Fire Department has issued a notice directing the evacuation of the basement, 6th, and 7th floors of the building at 9 Camac Street, citing severe deficiencies in fire safety arrangements.
— ANI (@ANI) September 4, 2026
The premises house the office of TMC national general secretary Abhishek… pic.twitter.com/s7wMt4HJCh
Evacuation notice
Basement, 6th, and 7th floors can't be occupied
After the inspection, the building owner, Rama Devi Goenka, was served a show-cause notice with a 48-hour deadline.
After no response was received, the fire department issued an evacuation notice for the basement, sixth, and seventh floors.
The notice stated these areas cannot be occupied until fire safety deficiencies are addressed and a valid fire safety certificate is obtained.
Lease details
Lease agreement details
Advocate Sagnika Banerjee, representing Goenka, said a lease agreement was signed with TMC Youth Congress on March 1, 2020.
The lease was for 10 years and required compliance with statutory requirements like obtaining a completion certificate (CC) from civic authorities.
"He (Banerjee) was supposed to occupy the floors and operate legally after we received the completion certificate (CC)....Obtaining CC is a statutory requirement. But he forcefully took possession of the floors even before the CC could be procured," she said.